Culture: the set of habits, beliefs, and knowledge of a people. How much of Brazilian culture is permeated by black culture?
Certainly what underpins black culture goes far beyond a simple blog post, but we have gathered here some important thoughts on the topic.
It is very common to folklorize black culture, restricting it to some attributes that do not always account for its depth. Black culture is a complex of symbols that are present in all places, moments, and landscapes of the Afro-Brazilian imaginary.
The fact is that it is part of the formation of Brazilian identity. It is in the cuisine, in the music, in literature, in monuments, in clothing, in religion.
Samba, for example, is one of the great pillars when it comes to talking about black culture in Brazil. Around it are symbols linked to resistance, history, and much more.
And in Literature? Great names make up the universe of Brazilian black culture such as Lima Barreto, Carolina Maria de Jesus, Conceição Evaristo. Many of the texts of these personalities retell history, talk about what it means to be a black person in Brazil.
In cuisine, acarajé, vatapá, mungunzá, quibebe among a multitude of others.
In religiosity, African beliefs spread throughout Brazil, with strong variations present throughout the national territory. Here are Batuque, Babaçu, Quimbanda, Omoloko, Xangô do Nordeste etc.
When talking about black culture within classrooms, for example, the process of enslavement of black people is almost always the starting point. But knowledge about the subject cannot stop there. Since January 2003, for example, Law 10,639 ensures that the theme "Afro-Brazilian History and Culture" is present in schools.
Investing in Afrocentric knowledge, that is, knowledge that brings African elements and elements from the African diaspora into the discussion, changes history, allows for greater empowerment, and understanding of what black culture is and how it constitutes us.
05/16/2022
